realistic movie computers

From: Sam Ismail <dastar_at_crl.com>
Date: Wed May 7 20:54:26 1997

On Wed, 7 May 1997, Kai Kaltenbach wrote:

> (Patriot Games)
> | Hardly. I don't know of an operating system that yanks the
> file contents off
> | of your screen when someone else on the network deletes them.
>
> Windows?

As bad as windows is, it at least does not do that ;)

> (Ferris Bueller)
> | Hardly. Unless he was using some sort of remote control
> software (like
> | PCAnywhere) or the principal was running a BBS, I don't know
> of a program
> | that shows someone editing database fields in realtime.
>
> Well, the bit about seeing the cursor move was dramatic license, but
> certainly there are numerous databases that will show dynamic updates in
> real time.

Only if specifically programmed that way. Otherwise, if you are on a
record (in read only mode) and someone is updating that information, you
don't see the actual characters populating the field one by one as they
are being typed.

Anyway, this has gone from a simple aside to a full-blown, non-classic
computer discussion. We should get back to discussing the classic
computers we see in movies, rather than argue over whether what they were
made to do was feasible or not.

Sam
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Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Received on Wed May 07 1997 - 20:54:26 BST